By Jane M. Von Bergen

– On NFL Draft Day – one of the biggest events in sports, and a big-ticket marketing opportunity for sponsors such as Verizon Communications Inc. – the National Football League Players Association lined up alongside 39,000 striking Verizon workers.

“The NFLPA stands in solidarity with these striking workers who are seeking a fair and just contract for themselves and their families,” DeMaurice Smith, executive director of the players’ union, wrote Thursday.

Smith sent the letter to the presidents of the Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers as the unions’ strike against Verizon was entering its 17th day, following talks Thursday in Philadelphia and Westchester County, N.Y.

Verizon said it was issuing its “last, best final offer,” said Marc Reed, the company’s chief administrative officer. “A better offer would be hard to find.”

The offer included wage hikes and promises of job security in return for concessions on assigning workers to travel assignments.

“Verizon workers remain on strike and are standing strong on the picket lines,” CWA officials said in a statement.

“Verizon workers, customers and shareholders need the company to get serious about negotiations and building a stronger company,” the union said.

The company has been an NFL marketing partner since 2010, and in 2014 it completed a four-year, $1 billion extension of the original deal, according to published reports.

Customers of Verizon can access, through an app on their smartphones, all non-blacked-out home-market NFL games, all postseason games, NFL Network, and NFL Network’s RedZone, featuring game-day highlights.

Verizon also sponsors non-game events, such as the NFL draft, as well as more than a dozen teams, including the Eagles.

Source – http://www.philly.com/philly/business/labor_and_unions/20160429_NFL_players_union_offers_draft-day_support_to_striking_Verizon_workers.html